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Buddhist

The Story of God with Morgan Freeman S2E3: Just Look

January 30, 2017 by J. Alan Sharrer Leave a Comment

(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Savas Georgalis)

I think there comes at least one time in every person’s life where s/he seriously contemplates if God exists. Perhaps it’s in a time where everything in life is falling apart and there is nowhere else to turn (see Job). Perhaps it’s a reflection about the words someone else has said on the subject.  It could even be a realization that something seems to be missing in life.  For me personally, it came from sitting on a vacant beach one afternoon and watching the waves crash on the shore.  My thought was simply this: “I cannot understand how someone can look at the ocean or the beauty of nature and not believe there is a God.”  The final episode of the second season of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman (Monday, 9PM/8CT Nat Geo) discusses the proof of God we all look for.  The answers have the ability to drive us right to him—if we’ll allow for it.

(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Seth Nejame)

In my opinion, this was the strongest episode this season by a large margin.  It felt like a return to the questioning, inquisitive nature that encouraged people to take an interest in faith.  Freeman showcases his usual alluring charm and sharp analysis as he introduces a number of ways people find personal proofs for God.  Sujo John’s story was fascinating—he survived 9/11 after climbing down 81 floors to escape. There’s more, but I won’t give it away.  These times of crisis will often drive us to a realization that God is real.  Of course, this also brings up the question of why God allows some to live and others to perish in situations.  John’s comment involved peace and the confidence that if he was to die, everything would be okay.

Some people see miracles as proof—the dancing of the sun in the sky in Fatima, Portugal (top photo) is one example. Some people find their proof in healing others via dead ancestors, such as villages in Namibia.  Others find God’s proof within themselves, like some Buddhists who have the ability to channel what they call “inner fire,” giving them the ability to raise their body temperatures through meditation. Many Muslims see their proof in the words of their holy book, the Qu’ran.  Even scientists aren’t immune to looking for proofs of God, as theoretical physicist Art Lovie shares by describing nature and mathematical equations that demonstrate the existence of life itself.

(Photo Credit: National Geographic/Reza Riazi)

Freeman ends the episode by noting that we’ll find God in the space between knowledge and doubt. If this is to be taken at face value, it means that somewhere within us is a space only he can fill. The French mathematician Blaise Pascal said something to that exact effect: “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing.” Christians believe the form of the filling comes only through Jesus, who is proof of God in human form. He calmed the wind and waves (Mark 4:35-41), healed people (see Matthew 15:30 for one example), and even sweat blood at one point (Luke 22:29-44).  But without Jesus’ return to life after death, his life was lived in vain.  And yet God allows nature, individual situations, and other people to help bring about the filling of the vacuum.  This way, people are without excuse regarding a proof of God, because it’s seen every day (see Romans 1:18-20).  All that has to be done is to slow down, stop, and look around to see it.

I’m looking forward to a third season of The Story of God with Morgan Freeman.  There’s way more to God than meets the eye, and the show has just scratched the surface.  Who knows what will be found as we go deeper?

Filed Under: Current Events, Reviews, Television Tagged With: Art Lovie, Buddhist, Crisis, Existence, Faith, Fatima, God, Healing, Inner Fire, Jesus, Job, Morgan Freeman, Muslim, Namibia, National Geographic, nature, Pascal, Portugal, Proof, Proof of God, Qu'ran, Sujo John, The Story of God, Theoretical Physicist

Miracles and Hope – The Story of God (Ep. 6)

May 8, 2016 by J. Alan Sharrer 4 Comments

Past Articles in This Series: Episode 1 | Episode 2 | Episode 3 | Episode 4 | Episode 5
CloudsIn the final episode of The Story of God (tonight 9PM/8 Central), narrator and host Morgan Freeman shares a personal story when, as a teenager, he was in a hospital with pneumonia and an abscess on his lung.  When it burst, he almost died.  Yet he survived and eventually became one of the premiere actors in Hollywood.  Was that a miracle?

Alcides Moreno was in New York preparing to wash windows with his brother on the top of a 47-story skyscraper. While on the platform, the cables snapped, sending both of them hurtling to the ground some 500 feet below. Alcides survived, but his brother didn’t (typically, a 10-story fall is instant death).  He’s not sure if that was a miracle, but believes God gave him a “second chance.”

So what exactly is a miracle?  The Random House Dictionary defines a miracle as “an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause.” We talk of miracles all the time, ranging from somehow getting an A on a test we didn’t study to sports teams succeeding despite everything being stacked against them (think of Leicester City in the Barclays Premier League winning the title yesterday at 5000:1 odds [worse than Elvis getting out of his grave]).  But do they really exist or is it just a really big game of chance that happens to swing the right way once in a great while?

Jerusalem - The Church of the Holy SepulcherFreeman discovers that Christians and Jews are united about miracles being a key aspect of their faith (after all, most of the key elements of the Bible are pretty miraculous according to the above definition, such as Moses parting the Red Sea and Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead). The Catholic Church verifies miracles (two) in order to confer sainthood upon deceased individuals. In addition, prayer and faith in God makes a big difference. Tom Renfro, a pastor of a church in Virginia, shares his personal story about having cancer and not seeing the doctor, asking for prayers instead.  He eventually heard God tell him it was time to go to the doctor, then went in for one round of chemo and was completely healed.  Renfro attributes the miracle to his faith and the faith of the people around him.

Other beliefs vary as to the importance of miracles. The Egyptians believed everything that happened in a person’s life was the will of the gods.  In the case of the Romans, they believed their panoply of gods determined the outcome of chariot races at the Circus Maximus (think Ben-Hur), yet humans could help speed the process along by cheating and such. In the case of Taoism, everything is connected and the fates of an individual are set at birth. However, Jenny Liu, a fate calculator (that’s a great title to put on a resume), tells Freeman there is still room for a miracle since, in her words, “Birds don’t fly; they’re flown. Fish don’t swim; they’re carried.”  Buddhists go as far to say that humans can perform miracles such as love, peace, reconciliation, and the transformation of the mind.

Simply put: there’s a lot more to life than meets the eye and, if anything, miracles offer hope to a world that increasingly needs to know possibility can become reality.

Filed Under: Reviews, Television Tagged With: Alcides Moreno, Ben-Hur, Buddhist, Catholic Church, Christian, Circus Maximus, hope, Jewish, Lazarus, Miracles, Morgan Freeman, Moses, National Geographic, Saints, Taoism, The Story of God, Tom Renfro

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